How To Identify The Breed Of Your Dog
How to identify the breed of your dog?
The cheapest solution is to just identify the breed of your dog manually. It is possible to conduct a DNA analysis of your dog, this should give you more information on the breed of your dog. You could also consult with the breeder who sold you the dog, as they will probably know the lineage of the dog and potentially have certification of its breed status.
DNA identification
There are various places where a DNA sample of the dog can be taken (using a swab taken from the cheek). It should be noted that these results are not guaranteed to be correct, also many breeds are actually created from a mixture of other breeds, so for example a dog breed may be mislabeled in this way. One example of this service happydogdna.com, no endorsement is given for this service, please take it as a jumping off point for researching the subject.
Manual Identification
Identify all the relevant stats of your dog.
- Weight
- Height (to the withers not the head)
- Note the shape of the face and the head.
- Check the eye colour, the ears.
- Check the fur of the dog
- Check the tail of the dog, note though that some dogs may have had their tail docked
- Check the behaviour of the dog, as certain breeds have specific temperaments, also certain breeds where bred to have specific skills, so for example if the dog is very good at smelling out small animals, this is an indicator that it may be a scent hound
- How vocal is the breed
Contact a breeder
Contact a breeder of dogs, preferably one who breeds the type of dog you think you have. For a fee or possibly for free they may be able to advise you as to the type of dog you have.
Contact the seller of your dog
The person who sold you the dog may have more information at the very least about the parents dogs of your dogs. From this you already have more information, they may have certifications on the nature of the breed of dog. Some dogs can be directly traced back to the progenitor dog for that breed.